Neighbors say progress encroaching on privacy

ST. AUGUSTINE BEACH -- A gentle slope of trees and vegetation has been the only shield against businesses encroaching on the neighborhood known as Casa de Contera.

Nestled behind a dune and the traffic moving along State Road A1A, residents living in Casa de Contera say they have lost all right to privacy to the progress of business growth.

Resident Tom Force said he is considering staking a "For Sale" sign in his yard to escape future development. He said he has fought 11 years to keep his neighborhood separated from commercial growth, but lost hope after the latest business, a coffee shop with a drive-through window, was given ground beyond his home.

"We're just sick about it," Force said. "I was going to go to the meeting, but just gave up."

About 10 residents took turns standing before the City Commission on March 3 to protest the drive-through window selling coffee from early morning to late night. John Lester, general partner of Promised Land Limited, said the dune would be a buffer from the headlights turning into the business. He agreed the owner of the business would have no amplifier system for ordering and said the sound of car doors slamming and engines starting would be avoided with a drive-through window.

The residents asked Lester to live in the neighborhood after the latest business is built, saying the dune would shrink further and headlights would shine into their windows. Lester again told the commission at least 32 feet will stand between the commercial and residential lines and headlights would not reach their homes.

The residents of Casa de Contera left last week's meeting in defeat after the City Commission agreed the drive-through could be built, but must only operate from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. and may not have an amplification system for ordering.

With attorney George McClure at his side, Lester walked away with a box filled with legal files and an oversized cardboard prop showing the boundaries between the new commercial business and the homes behind it.

"I'm not of the opinion that a development ought to be a mob process but because of the hearing process you get a lot of that," Lester said Friday afternoon.

Lester said expanding businesses has been a controversial idea to beach residents since the beginning. In addition to the 800-square-foot coffee house, provisions have been set for three future buildings to be used for office retail, he said.

In 1982, Promised Land bought nine acres of commercial land rolling back off S.R. A1A. Lester said at that time S.R. A1A was known as State Road 3. He called it "a sleepy little back way to the beach that only local people used."

With a doctor's office being the only business in the area, Promised Land discussed building a residential community off Old Beach Road. The homes would sit on about seven acres set off S.R. 3 from 140 to 170 feet. The first part of Casa de Contera had been built in 1984 when a storm hit the beach in November.

A northeaster "washed out" S.R. A1A which then ran along the coast, Lester said. Plans were made to convert S.R. 3 into a new S.R. A1A that would be the main roadway running through the beach community.

The road is now a four-lane, divided highway edging commercial land. Over the dune from Casa de Contera are a Wendy's restaurant, Amoco gas station, and Prosperity Bank. Promised Land sold the land to Prosperity Bank, but did not own the property that holds Wendy's and Amoco.

Slowly, the dune has receded in the development, though residents said Lester made a promise never to touch it during development.

"I always felt that the agreement should have been honored," said Commissioner Al Holmberg. "It's been pecked away at over the years."

Lester said he spoke at a zoning meeting in 1987 to assure that Promised Land would not build on the "eastern side of the dune."

That didn't stop some residents from using the vacant commercial land bordering their backyards, he said. One family set up a birdbath, stepping stones and a swing 35 feet onto the commercial zone, Lester said.

The land that makes up the dune has been for sale all along, Lester said, but Promised Land received no offers from residents who have land along the commercial zone.

Looking up at the dune rising from his backyard, he pointed to some trees standing atop the dunes. Red ribbons are tied around their trunks, marking those that could come down during future development, Force said.

Lester said he has not marked trees with red ribbons. Nevertheless, he agreed some might fall.

"Some of them may be lost in the development and paving process if they are over the middle of the dune, but not on the east side of the dune," Lester said.

As for the shade cast down by the trees in Force's backyard, Lester said there has always been the potential that it would be lost.

"He's been enjoying the shade while we've been paying the taxes over the years," Lester said.